MG fuel system

[Ken Neff <kneff@tivoli.tivoli.com>]

I'll apologize in advance for the length of this message, but ASCII drawings
take up a lot of space.

A few weeks ago I bought a non-running 1973 MG Midget from a friend.  I'm now
in the process of sorting it out, and the next task is fuel line routing.  In
1973, Midgets had air pumps and charcoal canister for vapor recovery.  The air
pump is missing in my car, but the charcoal canister is still there.  The fuel
lines on the car are not good, and the overflow from the float bowls is routed
to the ground.  I'd like to use the charcoal canister, since it's there, but
I'm worried about routing a fuel line from the carbs, over the engine, to the
charcoal canister.

I haven't been able to find a decent picture of a Midget's fuel system, so I'm
hoping someone on this list can help.  I also have a few other questions which
I'll ask here.  I've numbered the diagrams, and the questions follow the
pictures.


                                                                Thanks,
                                                                        Ken
                                                                        
---------------------------------- snip, snip ----------------------------------


Figure 1: Carburetor float bowls (top view)
--------

                          heat shield ---
                                         |
                                        \ /
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                ____________________________________
               |   Crossover (fuel for 2nd carb)    |
               |    ____________________________    |
               | ^ |                            | | |                   engine
               | | |____                    ____| | |
 front <--    /| | |    \                  /    | | |\                    / \
             / | | |     \                /     |\/ | \                    |
            /  |   |      \              /      |   |  \                   |
           /   |   |       \            /       |   |   \                 \ /
  ________|__   | |         |          |         | |   __|_________
 |           ---  |         |          |         |  ---            |      air
 |    _______---  |         |          |          -----________    |   cleaners
 |   |    |     | |         |          |                 |     |   |
 |   |     \   |   |       /            \               /      |   |
 |   |      \  |   |      /              \             /       |   |
 |   |       \ |   |     /                \           /        |   |
 |   |        \|   |____/                  \_________/         |   |
 |   |         |   |                                           |   |
 |   |         |   |                                           |   |
 |   |         |   |_________________         _________________|   |
 |   |         |                     ---------                     |
 |   |         |_____________________---   ---_____________________
 |   |                                  | |
 |   |                                  | |
 |   |                                 |   |
 |   |                                 | | |
 |   |                                 | | |
 |   |                                 |\ /|
 |   |
 |   |                                 drain
 |   |                                to ground
 |   |
 |   |
 |   |
 |   |               ___________
 |   |              /           \
 |   |__________   |             |
 |              ---      fuel     ----------- --> hard line to fuel pump
 |______________---     filter    -----------
                   |             |
                    \___________/



Figure 2: Carburetor bodies (side view)
--------
                _______                            _______
               (_______)                          (_______)
                |     |                            |     |
                |     |                            |     |
             ---       ---                      ---       ---
            /             \                    /             \
           /               \                  /               \
          |                 |   Unattached   |                 |
          |                 |     pipes      |                 |
          |                 |    /      \    |                 |
          |                 |  ___      ___  |                 |
          |                 | /  /      \  \ |                 |
          |                 |/  /        \  \|                 |
          |                 |  /          \  |                 |
          |                 | /            \ |                 |
        -----------------------            -----------------------



Figure 3: Charcoal canister (side view)
--------

   to breather
  on valve cover
  ______________
    <----       \
  ___________    \
             \    \
              |    |
              |    |
              |    |     
               |  |         <------- To hose from carbs
          _____|  |______| |____      (labelled "drain to ground")?
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
         |                      |
       __|                      |________________      hard line to fuel
??? -->__                        ________________--->  tank, I believe
         |                      |
         |______________________|